Research in our laboratory covers a wide range of topics applicable to Neuroscience. Current research encompasses techniques for optimizing outcomes of peripheral nerve repair as well as studies of the pathology of muscle degeneration following peripheral nerve injury or long-term neuromuscular blockade. In addition, ongoing studies investigate the regulation of the thermoregulatory microvasculature of the digits through autonomic control of this vasculature in normal and disease conditions. From a broader perspective, our laboratory also has an interest in the autonomic control of the cardiovascular system and integration of systemic and microvascular control.
Our laboratory also trains Orthopaedic Residents in research techniques applicable a career in academic Orthopaedic Surgery. These residents are engaged in clinically relevant research and offer an opportunity to collaborate with academic physicians to better understand the perspective of our clinical colleagues. Our laboratory also teaches microsurgical technique and a variety of animal models are available for integrative physiological studies.

SYNOPSIS OF AREA OF INTEREST: The overall areas of interest in this laboratory are microcirculation of thermoregulation and inflammation, hemodynamics, peripheral nerve injury and repair, skeletal muscle adaptation to injury, diabetes, microsurgery, wound care, and tissue reconstruction.
DETAILED AREA OF INTEREST: Research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery covers many disciplines. Current projects in collaboration with the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine include the following:
The use of tissue engineered constructs for repair of significant peripheral nerve gaps following injury. Small silastic conduits are filled with keratose gels and used to repair tibial nerve gaps in mice. These preliminary constructs result in improved nerve conduction velocity distal to the injury, increase amplitude of EMG, and improved muscle force generation with nerve stimulation. Murine models of nerve injury provide reproducible test beds for these engineered constructs.
Tissue engineered allografts for ACL, tendon, and meniscus repairs. Techniques for decellularizing and repopulating these allograft tissues are being developed to reduce immunogenicity and improve graft incorporation and remodeling by the recipient. Engineered structures then can be implanted in appropriate animal models (sheep, rabbit, mice) to evaluate in vivo incorporation.
Murine models of myocardial infarction to test stem cell therapies utilizing coronary artery ligations performed as survival surgeries in mice. These ligations produce predictable lesions of the myocardium which can subsequently be injected with myocardial progenitor cells in an effort to reduce the degree of myocardial deficits accompanying infarction. Assessment of cardiac function in the mice to determine myocardial recovery with and without therapy is performed using ventricular pressure-volume loops and ultrasound imaging.